The present disclosure relates generally to food waste disposers.
Food waste disposers are used to comminute food scraps into particles small enough to safely pass through household drain plumbing. A conventional disposer includes a food conveying section, a motor section, and a grinding mechanism disposed between the food conveying section and the motor section. The food conveying section includes a housing that forms an inlet connected to a sink flange for receiving food waste and water. The food conveying section conveys the food waste to the grinding mechanism, and the motor section includes a motor imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft to operate the grinding mechanism.
Conventional food waste disposers produce noise during operation. This is due, in part, by the operation of the motor as well as by the food impacting against the disposer body and grind components. To reduce noise, it has been known to place an insulating cover around the exterior housing of the disposer. An exterior cover, however, does not prevent noise from traveling up through a drain opening of a sink where it can easily be heard by the user of the food waste disposer.
It has also been known to use a baffle between the disposer inlet and the drain opening. One function of the baffle is to keep food waste from getting “kicked back” up through the drain opening when the disposer is operating. The baffle reduces only a portion of the noise from the disposer, due in part to the fact that a typical baffle has an opening that allows noise to directly pass up through the drain opening. Additionally, water flowing into the disposer from the user's faucet, which normally flows during the operation of the disposer, does not act to adequately fill the spaces left by these openings. Instead, water runs almost unencumbered through the baffle and down into the disposer, and hence the water does not act to further shield noise from emanating into the sink.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/997,678, entitled “Food Waste Disposer Having Mechanism and Method For Creating a Water Baffle to Reduce Noise,” filed Nov. 29, 2001 by inventor Joseph G. Farmerie, and claiming priority to provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/253,804, filed Nov. 29, 2000, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, discloses a method for creating a water baffle to block the noise of the grinding mechanism.
Key elements for the use of a water baffle depend on the water flow rate through the baffle, the surface tension of the water passing through the baffle and whether or not the disposer is vented. Too little water may not overflow the baffle adequately to prevent sound emission. Too much water may back-up the baffle causing a nuisance. The surface tension of the water influences how easily the water may flow though the baffle. Too little surface tension may allow even high flow rates of water to pass through the baffle and not adequately control noise emission. If the disposer is not vented, it may back-up the water in the baffle even at low flow rates causing a nuisance. If the disposer is vented, it still may cause the water, even at high flow rates, to pass through the baffle without adequately preventing noise emission.
The present application addresses shortcomings associated with the prior art.